Mechanism for delivering predetermined fluid quantities



United States Patent 3,376,013 MECHANISM FOR DELIVERING PRE- DETERMINEDFLUID QUANTITIES Lawrence George Mallett, Walled Lake, MiclL, assignorto American Standard Inc., a corporation of Delaware Filed Mar. 12,1965, Ser. No. 439,255 6 Claims. (Cl. 251--38) ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE The invention contemplates a liquid flow valve which can bemanually drawn open rather quickly, but which can then only close ratherslowly under the control of an air dashpot mechanism. The rate of valveclosing (dashpot movement) is controlled by a manually adjustablemetering valve element which controls the admission of air into thedashpot chamber. Power for the dashpot movement is provided by a springmechanism which is loaded incident to manual opening of the liquidvalve.

This invention relates to mechanism for delivering predetermined fluidquantities, as for example water or other liquid to a tank such as abathtub or clothes washing machine.

In automatic clothes washing machines it is desired to automaticallyfill the tub to various water levels according to the weight of theload. Similarly, in the case of bathtubs it would be desirable toautomatically fill the tub to various different water levels to permitthe housewife to attend to other chores during the filling operation andto prevent the tub from overflowing.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a sectional view taken through one embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view taken through a portion of asecond embodiment of the invention.

Before explaining the present invention in detail, it is to beunderstood that the invention is not limited in its application to thedetails of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, since the invention is capable of otherembodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also,it is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology em ployedherein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

In FIG. 1 of the drawings there is shown a water valve 10 having aninlet 12, an outlet 16 and a valve seat 18. Cooperating with seat 18 isa poppet valve element 20 carried by a stem 22, said stem having aswivel connection at 26 with a second stem 28. Stem 28 extends through asecond cup-shaped housing 30 to a fixed connection with a knob 32. Amanual pull on knob 32 draws valve element 20 away from seat 18 topermit water or other fluid to flow from inlet 12 to outlet 16.

As stem 28 is drawn rightwardly it draws a diaphragm 36 anddiaphragm-reinforcement cup 38 with it, thereby compressing and loadinga compression coil spring 50. Rightward movement of the diaphragm causesthe air in chamber 52 to be forced out of the chamber past the checkvalve 56. The partial vacuum thus created in chamber 52 retards theleftward movement of the diaphragm under the impetus of spring 50. Topermit a gradual refilling of chamber 52 there is provided a passage 58and an adjustable metering element 60. The size of the opening providedby element 60 and passage portion 58a thus regulates the rate at whichair is drawn into chamber 52 to thus control the rate of movement ofdiaphragm 36 in the leftward direction. By varying or adjusting theposition of metering element 60 I can vary the rate of movement ofdiaphragm 36 to thus vary the time required to close valve element 20.

In the illustrated mechanism the metering element is provided with athreaded stem area 62 which meshes with a threaded bore in housing 30 sothat rotation of the stem moves the conical portion of the meteringelement toward or away from passage 58a. Rotation of the stem may beeffected by a drive connection which includes a pinion gear 66 carriedon the stem and a splined portion 68 formed on stem 28. Thus, manualrotation of knob 32 may be utilized to rotate stem portion 62 of themetering element to provide different air flow rates through passage 58.As previously noted, the rate of flow through passage 58 determines therate at which diaphragm 36 moves leftwardly and thus the rate of closingof valve element 20.

When the apparatus is utilized in a bathtub installation it may belocated behind a conventional. building wall 70 and escutcheon plate 72.In such an arrangement knob 32 can be provided with a pointer portionregistering with a suitable tub level dial on the escutcheon plate Thus,knob 32 may be rotated to a particular selected tub water level and thenpulled outwardly to open valve element 20. As previously noted, outwardmovement of the knob causes air to be vented from chamber 52 past checkvalve 56. Thereafter the air is allowed to gradually refill the chamber52 through the metering passage 58 to close valve 20 at a controlledrate. The illustrated valve is preferably located downstream from theconventional manual mixing valve so that element 20 handles a singlestream of water of any selected temperature. The illustrated valvedepends on the time-fill principle; therefore the inlet pressure shouldbe fairly uniform or a suitable flow control device provided in thefluid system. A suitable flow control device is shown in U.S. Patent No.3,141,477.

It will be understood that illustrated metering element 60 can have itsown adjustment knob separate from knob 32, in which case the meteringelement stem 62 would be extended through escutcheon plate 72 in lieu ofthe illustrated splines 68 and gear 66.

During service it is conceivable that liquid could leak past the O-ringseal 76. A more positive seal such as a bellows could be provided topreclude the accumulation of liquid in chamber '78. In the illustratedarrangement however a passage is provided to remove such liquidaccumulations as may occur. Passage 80 is provided with a Venturi throat82 which, when liquid is flowing through outlet chamber 16, acts tocreate a partial vacuum in passage 80 to draw liquid accumulations outof chamber 78. The Venturi precludes flow from chamber 16 into passage80.

As shown in FIG. 1, check valve 56 and passage 58 communicate with theatmosphere. It is possible of course to construct an arrangement whereinthese passages communicate with a separate chamber formed as part of thecontrol mechanism. Thus, during rightward movement of stem 28 the air inchamber 52 could be expelled into the separate chamber for subsequentreturn to chamber 52 through passage 58 after the manual pull on knob 32had been released.

FIG. 1 illustrates an arrangement wherein main valve element 20 isdirectly connected with diaphragm 36 by a mechanical connectioncomprising stem22. It is possible, however, to interpose a pilot valveelement between the main valve element and diaphragm as shown in FIG. 2.Thus, the main valve element may be constructed as a diaphragm 86 havinga bleed port 88 for allowing water in inlet chamber 90' to flow into adiaphragm chamber 92. Flow from chamber 92 to the main outlet chamber 96takes place through a central diaphragm opening 98 which is normallyclosed by a pilot valve element plunger 100. Plunger 100 is slidablypositioned in a tubular guide 102 which extends into a cylindricalrecess in stem 22 to guide said stem for reciprocal movement. Carried onplunger 100 is an annular magnetic element 106, which cooperates with asecond magnetic element 108 carried on stem 22. One or both of elements106 and 108 may be formed as a permanent magnet; one of them can beformed of magnetically permeable material such as soft iron. Thearrangement constitutes a magnetic drive coupling which ensures thatmovement of stem 22 will produce a corresponding movement of plungerDuring service, a manual pull on knob 32 (not shown in FIG. 2) causesstem 22 and plunger 100 to be drawn rightwardly, thus permitting liquidto flow from chamber 92 through opening 98. The pressure in inletchamber 90 is thus enabled to open diaphragm 86 and permit a main flowof liquid past seat 110. As stem 22 moves leftwardly under the impetusof spring 50 it causes plunger 100 to close opening 98 and permit liquidto flow through bleed opening 88 into chamber 92 to apply a closingpressure on diaphragm 86.

The arrangement of FIG. 2 is advantageous in that it insures againstleakage of liquid out of the valve, and further in the fact thatrelatively low operating pressures on diaphragm 36 are effective tocontrol relatively large liquid flows past valve seat 110.

It will be seen that the illustrated forms of the invention include amanual means for opening a fluid valve or 86, spring means 50 tending toclose the liquid valve, and dashpot means at 52 operable to control theclosing rate of movement of the valve under the impetus of the springmeans. In the illustrated forms of the invention the mechanism includesa housing 30 positioned on the valve housing 10 and having the cavity 52facing the interface 37 between the two housings. Diaphragm 36 ismounted in interface 37 to cooperate with the aforementioned cavity indefining the dashpot air chamber.

What is claimed is:

1. Means for filling a container with predetermined liquid quantitiescomprising a liquid valve; manual means for opening said liquid valve;spring means tending to close said valve; and dashpot means operable tocontrol the closing rate of movement of the valve under the impetus ofthe spring means; and an operating connection between the manual meansand liquid valve; said operating connection including a pilot valveelement arranged to control liquid pressure on the upstream face of theliquid valve, and a magnetic drive coupling between the manual means andpilot element.

2. Means for delivering predetermined liquid quantities comprising avalve housing; a valve element movably mounted within said housing forcontrolling fiow therethrough; a second housing positioned on said firsthousing to define an interface therebetween; said second housing havinga cavity therein facing said interface; a diaphragm mounted in theinterface and cooperating with the cavity surface to define an airchamber; slidabl-e stern means operably connected with the movable valveelement and extending through the diaphragm and air chamber in thesecond housing, whereby movement of the stem means in one directionopens the valve element and contracts the air chamber; a check valveassociated with said second housing for permitting air to escape fromthe chamber as the chamber contracts; compression spring meansencircling the portion of the stem means within the air chamber in thesecond housing for urging the stem means to a position expanding the airchamber; and means associated with the second housing for admitting airto the chamber at a controlled rate, whereby to retard the movement ofthe stem means in the valve element-closing direction.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein the valve element is mechanicallyconnected with the stern means.

4. The combination of claim 2 wherein the valve element is connectedwith the stem means by means which includes a pilot valve element and amagnetic drive coupling between the pilot valve element and stem means.

5. The combination of claim 2 wherein the air-admitting means comprisesa rotary metering stem located in the second housing for rotary motionabout an axis paralleling the axis of the aforementioned stem means.

6. The combination of claim 5 and further comprising gear means betweenthe stem means and metering stem whereby rotation of the stem meansserves to rotatably adjust the metering stern.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,513,830 11/1924 LaCasse 251-1,461,163 7/1923 Robinson 254-55 FOREIGN PATENTS 798,844 3/1936 France.

M. CARY NELSON, Primary Examiner.

